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Male's Kaitlyn Lacy is all smiles as she leads the pack int the girls 3200-meter run of the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School. She came in first with a time of 11:30.03 beating duPont Manual's Kathleen Simms who came in second with a time of 11:34.03 seconds.
May 12, 2018
David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal

St. Xavier's Nick Poole hands the baton to teammate Eoin Corbett, right, in the final leg of the Boys 4 X 800 meter relay in the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School. St. X won the race.
May 12, 2018
David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal

Central's Tahlea Harris, left, and Kayla Jones, right, vie for first place in the girls 100-meter hurdles of the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School.
May 12, 2018
David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal

Male's Darian Clyburn wins the boys 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14:56 in the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School.
May 12, 2018
David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal

Rayne Jones of duPont Manual makes his 2nd place leap in the boys triple jump of the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School.
May 12, 2018
David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal

Darian Clyburn of Male takes third with his leap in the boys triple jump of the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School.
May 12, 2018
David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal

Male's Chimond Vaughn takes second in the girls triple jump of the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School with a jump of 35-01.50 feet.
May 12, 2018
David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal

Kaitlyn Lacy of Male edges out Kathleen Simms of duPont Manual to take 1st place in the girls 1600 meter run of the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School with a time of 6:04:33.
May 12, 2018
David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal

Male's Chimond Vaughn takes second in the girls triple jump of the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School with a jump of 35-01.50 feet.
May 12, 2018
David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal

Central's Haley Payton makes a 1st place jump in the girls triple jump of the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School with a jump of 36-07 feet.
May 12, 2018
David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal

Central's Tahlea Harris takes 1st place with a time of 46.39 in the girls 300 meter hurdles of the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School.
May 12, 2018
David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal

St. Xavier's Grady Shiflet takes 1st in the boys 800-meter run of the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School. He finished with a time of 1:59.51.
May 12, 2018
David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal

Central's Kayla Jones, right, takes first in the girls 200-meter dash of the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School, with a time of 25.92 edging out Male's Miranda Morton, left, who finished with a time of 26.19.
May 12, 2018
David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal

Central's Kayla Jones, right, takes first in the girls 200-meter dash of the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School, with a time of 25.92 edging out Male's Miranda Morton, left, who finished with a time of 26.19.
May 12, 2018
David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal

Central's Kayla Jones, right, catches her breath after taking first in the girls 200-meter dash of the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School, with a time of 25.92.
May 12, 2018
David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal

Male's Michael Warner, left, beats duPont Manual's Marcis Floyd in the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School. Warner came in first with a time of 22.84. Floyd came in third with a time of 23.02.
May 12, 2018
David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal

St. Xavier's Grady Shiflet takes 1st in the boys 800-meter run of the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School. He finished with a time of 1:59.51.
May 12, 2018(Photo: David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal)Buy Photo

For the third straight year, Male claimed a sweep of the team titles at the Class 3A Region Three track and field meet.

On Saturday, the host Bulldogs boys squad used a strong results in the field events to put distance between them and runner-up St. Xavier. The girls’ squad, which has won the last two state titles, relied mainly on its runners to hold off Manual and win its 10th consecutive regional crown.

The top two in each event qualified for Saturday’s Class 3A state meet at the University of Kentucky. Those who didn’t automatically earn berths may still go to state if their marks are among the remaining 10 best in the class.

BOYS

The closest race of the day came in the boys 1600 meters. Patrick Schaefer of St. Xavier led for most of the race, but Male’s Dylan Allen chased him down in the final few strides to win with a time of 4:24.56, beating the Tigers senior by .21 seconds.

That wasn’t the only dramatic race in the distance events, either. St. Xavier junior Grady Shiflet claimed the boys 800 in 1:59.51, and the top five finishers completed the race within .79 seconds of each other.

Beck O’Daniel of St. Xavier was the top individual star. He anchored two of the Tigers relay teams to victories and also claimed individual titles in the 100-meter dash and the 300-meter hurdles. In the latter race, the junior overtook Male’s Darian Clyburn just before the final hurdle to win with a time :39, .67 better than the Bulldogs senior.

O’Daniel needed another rally in the final event, the 4x400 relay. The Bulldogs led through three legs, and that was before O’Daniel and Shiflet had trouble exchanging the baton. But O’Daniel caught up with Michael Warner on the backstretch and ended up leading the Tigers to a .71 second victory.

“I think that bad handoff made me run faster,” O’Daniel said. “Because mentally I saw Male was getting in the lead, and we saw that and I told myself I’m going to have to kick it, I’m going to have to push myself. And we came up with the win.”

However, even before the 4x400, the Bulldogs had sewn up their third team title, thanks mainly to the 58 points they scored away from the track. Male scored 176 points, 43 more than the Tigers. Manual finished third with 98 points.

“Our throws came up really big… That wasn’t what we were looking to do,” Male coach Damon Smith said. “Field events came through big for us.”

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Male's Kaitlyn Lacy is all smiles as she leads the pack int the girls 3200-meter run of the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School. She came in first with a time of 11:30.03 beating duPont Manual's Kathleen Simms who came in second with a time of 11:34.03 seconds.
May 12, 2018(Photo: David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal)

GIRLS

The regional meet featured some of the state’s best distance runners, and those races didn’t disappoint.

In the 1600, Male’s Kaitlyn Lacy led wire-to-wire but Simms stayed on her back for all four laps. Lacy, the state cross country champion, took the race in 5:04.33, the best time this season according to MileSplit’s rankings. Kathleen Simms of Manual finished less than a half-second behind, while her teammate Alana Sapienza-Wright’s third-place finish in 5:11.35 still likely earned her a spot in next week’s state meet.

Later in the day, Lacy and Simms, the top two distance runners in the state, again dueled in the hot sun for the 3200-meter race. Lacy again led from the start and finished in 11:30.33, beating Simms by just more than four seconds.

Lacy said the warm weather was a good prep for next week, when the state meet events will run at nearly the same time and conditions. Even with Simms pressing her throughout both races, Lacy said her main focus was just to make sure qualified.

“You just have to stay focused and stay calm and really focus on your breathing and your form,” the University of Kentucky signee said.

Lacy’s teammates took three of the four relay races, and they also placed at least one runner in the top two in six of the eight individual races. That enabled the Bulldogs to edge the Crimsons 177.5 to 162. Central finished third with 99 points.

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Central's Kayla Jones, right, catches her breath after taking first in the girls 200-meter dash of the KHSAA Class 3A Region 3 track and field meet at Male High School, with a time of 25.92.
May 12, 2018(Photo: David R. Lutman, Special to Courier Journal)

“This was a team effort,” Male coach Sheree Beaumont said.

Kayla Jones also captured a double, with the Central junior winning both the 100-meter hurdles and the 200-meter dash.

In the field events, Manual’s Olivia Evans took home first place honors in both the shot put and the discus, and Haley Payton of Central won titles in the long jump and triple jump.